𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐀 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

chapter 43 - Small talk and celebrations

Johnny's p.o.v

"Holy shit that touchdown
man I'm so proud of you!" Hunter thumped my back proudly.

"Thanks bro." I gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder.
"He was amazing." Nadia said adoringly, gripping onto me.

"Hey!" I turned to see Brynn, Ruby, Annie, Lauren and kenzie approaching us. My body instinctively froze as she neared and I cleared my throat turning away. I could see her eyeing me warily. She wanted it to be as if we were never friends so that's what she'll get.

"You were great!" Annie said, moving in to give me an awkward hug since Nadia still had an iron grip on my hand.

I noticed Kenzie congratulating all the other guys and I could see her hesitate, her eyes lingering on me.

"Baby, I'll meet you in 5 minutes. I need to congratulate the girls on our routine." Nadia said, giving me a soft kiss on my cheek before walking off.

I took a deep breath, predicting what was going to happen next with pure certainty.

kenzie's p.o.v

I congratulated all the boys except John. I didn't dare go towards him when Nadia was around. I couldn't trust her not to cause a scene especially since our last encounter today.

I waited, watching Johnny from the corner of my eye and seeing Nadia finally walk away from him. I could feel my heart thumping loudly, hands trembling as I approached him.
His back was towards me.

I pulled on the material of his jersey, trying to get his attention.
He turned towards me and I could see the bitterness in his eyes. it hurt. He had never looked at me that way before.

"Hi John." I said nervously, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"Hey." He said finally, tucking his phone into his back pocket.
"You were amazing today. I'm really proud of you." I gave him a small smile.
"Thanks." He muttered.

I took a deep breath before rambling on.
"I was watching the coaches today as well. They looked really impressed. Nothing could stop you from getting into Yale now, Meridith and Dale will be so-"

"Cut the crap." He snapped, making my heart stop.

I gulped as he glared at me.

"You said you don't want to be friends anymore Mackenzie. So let's follow that through."
His voice was hard and rough and I felt myself flinch.

I looked down, mentally kicking myself for the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes. I don't know why I was being so pathetic but I didn't expect him to be so..cold. maybe indifferent but not quite so harsh. All I did was congratulate him. I thought he would soften up.

At that moment a loud booming voice interrupted us.

"Hey! All of us were going to go celebrate the win at Chucks Diner, are you guys in?" Carson asked jovially.
"Yeah." John replied, his voice sounding strange in my ears. It was plain and hard.

Carson turned to me.
"Uh sure..." I mumbled, my eyes not leaving Johnny as I continued to stare at him with hurt plastered on my face.

Johnny cleared his throat.
"I'm going to go find Nadia. we'll meet you there."

He walked off, and Carson looked at me curiously.
"What happened to him?"
I couldn't trust myself to not break down into tears so I just shrugged.
"I'm going to go find the girls."
I said excusing myself.

"They're going straight to the diner in Jacob's car. they're right outside." Carson yelled from behind me.

I turned to give him a thumbs up
before briskly walking away, the chilly breeze making my hair flow behind me. My eyes were red from trying to hold in my tears and I stopped holding them back and let them stream over my cheeks, my chest feeling tight.

Its my birthday and I thought I'd be nice and finally update for ya'll🥰💞💞

~annie